British MSS operator Inmarsat (LON:ISAT) has signed a €4.2m (US$4.6m) public private partnership with the European Space Agency to explore new communication technologies.
The PPP will fund a nine-month feasibility study into technologies that could…
British MSS operator Inmarsat (LON:ISAT) has signed a €4.2m (US$4.6m) public private partnership with the European Space Agency to explore new communication technologies.
The PPP will fund a nine-month feasibility study into technologies that could maximise satellite throughput, reduce the size and cost of terminals, and enable modular components that can be integrated into a broader range of devices and connected applications.
Inmarsat has committed €1.9m (US$2.1m) to be prime contractor for the study and ESA is providing €2m (US$2.2m). The rest of the budget is being funded by its three sub-contractors: Space Engineering Italy, Airbus Defence & Space UK and RUAG Switzerland.
Michele Franci, Inmarsat’s chief technology officer, said: “While the initial study is a relatively small scale project, it represents an ambitious goal; to extend the benefits of satellite communications to a broader customer base and to significantly increase the range of services and applications available; from connected transport systems to the monitoring of national and international energy infrastructures, to name just a few.”
The PPP will support the operator’s Inmarsat Communications Evolution (ICE) initiative, which aims to create an open and standardised MSS architecture that is more accessible to new application developers.
Flight safety PPP hails milestone
Iris, a separate ESA PPP headed by Inmarsat, unlocked a further €7.6m (US$8.3m) in funding earlier this week after completing the design phase for its satellite-based air traffic management system.
The project will now start developing a satellite network that will overlay the existing VHF system that manages air traffic communications across Europe, which has the most congested airspace in the world.
It aims to set up a precursor service by 2018 that can pinpoint an aircraft in four dimensions: latitude, longitude, altitude and time. By 2028, ESA hopes Iris’s data link will be the primary means of communications between controllers and cockpit crews across the world.
Satellite-based air traffic management is an increasingly active area for commercial space companies. Inmarsat’s US-based MSS rival Iridium has been busy securing partnerships with air navigation service providers for Aireon, its surveillance joint venture that aims to provide full services in 2018.
Meanwhile, Canadian inflight safety specialist Star Navigation System is looking to raise more funds to build out its satellite-based virtual black box technology.
ESA picked Inmarsat as prime contractor for Iris back in November and the operator has teamed up with 16 companies for the project, which has a €15m (US$16.4m) budget.
Iris is part of Europe’s much broader push to modernise how it monitors aircraft. The European Commission has set up an initiative called Single European Sky to tackle the €4bn (US$4.4bn) annual costs it blames on the shortcomings of Europe’s air traffic management.
The initiative is looking into ways to lower costs, maximise airport and airspace capacity, reduce passenger delays and limit carbon dioxide emissions.
